Preview: Defiant – Built To Destroy (6/29/19)

This coming Saturday night will see Defiant Wrestling celebrate three years of defiance with the fourth annual Built to Destroy, live on Access Defiant. The Built to Destroy shows have always been full of surprises and big moments, such as the inaugural World Champion being crowned in 2016, the breakup of Prospect (Alex Gracie and Lucas Archer) in 2017, and the return of Kid Lykos in 2018 to name just a few. Judging by the card that’s been put together for the fourth annual Built to Destroy, we could be looking at several more moments being added to that list.

Lucky Kid vs Man Like Dereiss

Ever since he made his arrival to Defiant Wrestling in December 2018, Man Like Dereiss has become one of the most popular stars on the roster. With the moniker of Mr. Cool, Dereiss has proven himself to be as determined as ever whenever he steps foot inside the ring, something that helped him gain a victory on a recent episode of Loaded over both Sean Kustom and Team WhiteWolf member Carlos Romo. Following this huge victory for the youngster, General Ameen awarded him with a huge opportunity for Built to Destroy when he faces the returning Lucky Kid. After being a part of the Pro Wrestling World Cup throughout 2017, the German sensation has gained a cult following in the form of the Defiant fans. Kid was originally scheduled to appear at Lights Out in April in an Internet Championship match, but an injury resulted in him being replaced by Sean Kustom. Now that he’s back, The Young Lion will be out to impress and get himself back in the Internet Championship scene. Unfortunately for him, so is Man Like Dereiss. A win here for either man would do wonders for their Defiant careers, but it’d do wonders for Dereiss’ career in general.

A first for professional wrestling will take place in Newcastle when Simon Miller and Nathan Cruz collide in an Ups & Downs Match. The rules for the bout are quite simple – there will be a 15-minute time limit, and competitors can score points by either tossing their opponent over the top rope (an Up) or pinning their opponent to the mat for the count of three (a Down). Whoever has the most points at the end of the time limit will be declared the winner. This one all came about on a Loaded episode earlier on in June when Cruz confronted Miller after his unsuccessful challenge at the Internet Championship, finding it disrespectful that a YouTube personality is trying to make a career as a wrestler after all the years he had spent working day in and day out to make ends meet. The Professional told Simon to burn his boots as he was useless, something that appears to have unleashed a nerve inside of the WhatCulture star. Thus, the Ups & Downs Match was created. There is, of course, a vast difference in terms of experience here, with Simon having made his debut 14 months whereas Nathan has been on the go for over a decade. Could you imagine the levels of rage Cruz would reach if he was defeated by the – in his eyes – useless YouTube star?

Prediction: Simon Miller

Defiant No Fun Championship: No Fun Dunne (c) vs HT Drake

Photo: DEFIANT

Having been called the No Fun Championship since February, it looks like we may finally be getting the Hardcore Championship back as No Fun Dunne puts his prized possession up for grabs opposite a refocused HT Drake. The seeds for this one were, in a way, planted back at Unstoppable. When Jimmy Havoc was unable to appear at the event, Dunne was awarded the championship as long as he was able to defeat one of his Anti-Fun Police partners. Drake stepped forward and would ultimately lose the bout due to the interference of Los Federales Santos Jr., and although the trio would get back on the same page, Drake was eventually ousted from the force. This was made crystal clear during the No Regrets Rumble when unofficial Anti-Fun Police member John Klinger destroyed Drake’s arm with a steel chair, but The Gimmick Killer has been medically cleared to return to action at Built to Destroy. In a video released leading to the match, Drake revealed a whole host of weapons he plans to use in this match. Seeing as he spends his time away from the ring actually building those rings, he’ll have access to all of the ring building apparatus. Things are looking bleak for No Fun Dunne’s championship reign right now.

The Defiant Women’s Championship rivalry between champion Lizzy Styles and challenger Lana Austin continues in Newcastle as the pair collide in a Last Woman Standing Match. Styles became the champion at Lights Out when she was awarded the title after then-champion Kanji suffered a minor injury. Because of this, as well as the fact that she immediately retained the gold against Lana, the alliance between the duo has disappeared entirely. They did have a title match at No Regrets last month, with Austin actually winning the championship by the looks of things in her home of Manchester when she forced the champion to submit, but the referee ruled it a disqualification win for her instead after being shoved out of the way beforehand by The One Woman Army. After this, Lizzy would make a challenge for a Last Woman Standing Match after losing a mixed tag team match to Lana on Loaded, a match that could possibly steal the show. Her reign so far has been exceptional, to say the least. The knee strike she uses to finish off opponents has proven beneficial to her leading up to now, and it’s something that you’d have to imagine will be extremely useful in a match where you have to keep your opponent down for the count of 10.

After winning the Magnificent Seven Briefcase in March, Benji has finally decided he’ll be cashing it in at Built to Destroy when he and Visage challenge The South-Coast Connection duo of Ashley Dunn and Kelly Sixx for their Tag Team Championships. Benji had previously been teaming with Conor Renshaw in an oddball team titled RenBen, with the briefcase holder making it his mission to change Renshaw’s ways in terms of his cheating tactics. It looked as if he was getting somewhere with the Sunderland native but after Conor caught Benji in the act himself (Dunn had made it appear he’d been hit with the briefcase by Benji), Renshaw snapped and destroyed his now-former partner. However, Visage would save Benji from a beating at the hands of Renshaw, Dunn, and Sixx, and would be chosen to team with him in this match while his usual partner Jack Sexsmith remains on the sidelines due to an injury. As an added stipulation, Benji demanded for this to be made a Ladder Match due to The SCC typically using nefarious means in order to retain their championships. With the titles being suspended above the ring, both teams will have to go that extra bit further if they want to leave Newcastle as the Defiant Tag Team Champions.

Prediction: Benji & Visage

Defiant Internet Championship: Martin Kirby (c) vs Joe Hendry

Photo: DEFIANT

One of Defiant’s biggest rivalries will be revisited at Built to Destroy as Martin Kirby puts the Internet Championship on the line against Joe Hendry. After capturing the title on the final Loaded of 2018 from WALTER, Project Ego decided to go against the entire purpose of the Internet Championship by defending it exclusively on pay-per-view events as opposed to the free weekly episodes on YouTube. This means we’ve had to wait a little longer to see Kirby in action but it’s safe to say that when he does step into a Defiant ring, it’s worth the wait as his performances are usually superb. The likes of Benji, El Phantasmo, and Sean Kustom have tried to pry the title away from the Defiant original, all to no avail. Martin now faces his biggest challenge in a few days time as The Prestigious One comes back into the championship scene in Defiant, fresh off an impressive victory over Gabriel Kidd in an Iron Man Match to send The Young Bull packing from Defiant. These two have been at each other’s throats on and off since early 2017, although things would dramatically change last summer when Kirby began playing the bad guy while the fans began to cheer Hendry once again. Even though Joe has proclaimed that 2019 won’t be his year (he says 2020 will be), that doesn’t mean he won’t be chasing championship gold. As of now, the only person to hold both the World and Internet Championships has been Kirby – will Hendry add his name to that list on Saturday night?

Prediction: Joe Hendry

Defiant World Championship: Rampage (c) vs David Starr

Photo: DEFIANT

For the last few months, Defiant commentator James R. Kennedy has used the term ‘the nearly man‘ when referencing David Starr. This was due to his inability to come out victorious in big money matches – he failed to defeat WALTER, he failed to win last year’s No Regrets Rumble Match, he failed to win the Ringmaster Tournament, he failed to defeat PAC, and he failed to win the World Championship from Rampage at Unstoppable. However, JRK’s attitude towards Starr changed at this year’s No Regrets event as he entered at number 30 and last eliminated Gabriel Kidd to win the third annual No Regrets Rumble. This now gives the man of many nicknames another opportunity at taking the World Championship out of the grasp of Rampage. The only difference between this match and the last time the duo faced off is that Rampage now has Rory Coyle by his side, although The Last True Sick Boy will be barred from ringside in this match after he lost to Starr in a Video Store Massacre Match on this past Sunday’s episode of Loaded. With the odds evened, it looks like this could very well be Starr’s crowning moment in Defiant Wrestling.

Prediction: David Starr

Built to Destroy airs LIVE on Access Defiant on Saturday evening from 7pm onwards. Remember, new subscribers get a 30 day free trial, meaning you’ll get to watch Built to Destroy for absolutely nothing if you’re signing up for the first time!

Stay tuned to the Last Word on Pro Wrestling for more on this and other stories from around the world of wrestling, as they develop. You can always count on LWOPW to be on top of the major news in the wrestling world, as well as to provide you with analysis, previews, videos, interviews, and editorials on the wrestling world.

While off school sick one day in November 2008, Adam sat down with Survivor Series on in the background. He was hooked ever since. With access to channels showing WWE and Impact Wrestling programming, he also keeps on top of ROH, PWG, NJPW, ICW, Defiant Wrestling and PROGRESS Wrestling.